winners and losers
by not a straight trumpet
Summary: Kumiko has some conversations on a bus late at night.


**a/n:** it's been a minute, huh?

i'd been stuck in kind of a kumirei rut for a while and then i watched the first five episodes of a Different good gay music anime (given, i highly recommend it) and felt motivated to try to write them again, and then i remembered the last scene of finale oath and remembered how it kinda bothered me. it was brilliant to return to the world of these characters again. i've missed them.

* * *

It was, in many ways, almost _less_ upsetting when they lost the second time, when the band headed back on the bus with heads hung and instruments packed into the trunk. After all, they hadn't gotten as far this time, hadn't seen Nationals and competed in that grand hall and then just had their dreams dashed.

This time, it didn't feel completely real, but it still hurt like hell.

"Oumae-senpai?" Kanade whispered as Kumiko unbuckled her seatbelt, clutched onto it so it could slip back without making that loud clacking noise.

"I'll be back in a second," Kumiko whispered back, and then made her way to the front of the bus, digging her feet into the carpeted floor so she didn't fall. Natsuki and Yuuko had to sit there - it was so they could get a head count for everyone - and Yuuko was fast asleep on Natsuki's shoulder. Natsuki herself stared out the window.

"Everyone always thought I slept in class," she said, before Kumiko could even indicate she was there. "The 'lazy euph' name didn't come out of nowhere, y'know? But I'm still awake."

"Yeah." Kumiko's throat went dry.

"Hey, why aren't ya sitting with the kid?" Natsuki still wouldn't look at her. She'd let down her ponytail, and her hair was longer than Kumiko would've thought.

"She still has two years." Kumiko didn't need to clarify what she meant. The bus hit a bump, and she grabbed instinctively onto the back of Yuuko's seat. "I'm so sorry, Natsuki."

"Not your fault."

"I-if I'd been better and trained the others better we could've- God, instead this is how it ends."

"For me." Natsuki shrugged, tugged down one of her sleeves. They'd passed out blankets, like this was some kind of emergency and not just an over-air-conditioned bus, but it seemed she'd handed both of them off to Yuuko. "Don't feel sorry for me, Kumiko. That's worse." Kumiko could see her jaw twitch, and she figured that it was a simile. "Besides, I joined the band because Nozomi wanted me to. She got what she wanted." Finally, Natsuki turned around, pointed one finger at Nozomi and Mizore sitting further back, holding hands, entwined like one being. Kumiko couldn't really make out her expression in the dark, but her eyes shone like she'd been crying. "I think I'll drop the euph in college. I have a guitar at home, I've always kinda wanted to try that out professionally."

"Ah, really?"

"Yeah!" Natsuki's voice got a little louder, and Yuuko stirred. Both Kumiko and Natsuki shrank back a bit. "I'm going with this asshole - ya know that - and we started talking, just kinda brainstorming, and it turns out she can play it too." She looked fondly at Yuuko's sleeping form, her yellow ribbon folded over and nearly blending in with her hair. "Hasn't got a bad set of pipes, either. We recorded a demo and it was bad but we're gonna get better. I like singing duets with her."

"Natsuki, that's amazing."

"Our university's smack-dab in the middle of this big city so we'll be able to get gigs and stuff, maybe get a following." Natsuki struck a tiny pose, hardly able to keep it together for a second before she snorted. "Take on Asuka-senpai's position as local lesbian heartthrob."

"Hah, yeah."

"Though it seems like you've got someone who likes ya, too." Natsuki lowered her voice. Kumiko blinked, took a second to register it, nearly stumbled back.

"W-what?"

"Oi, I have eyes. Ya think I haven't been keeping tabs on you and Kousaka?" Natsuki pointed, again, this time to Reina sitting alone, in the aisle seat but looking out the window. "This whole thing sucks. I'm well aware of that. I also know that you're gonna be the band's president next year-"

_"What?"_

"-and Taki-sensei didn't want another euph-trumpet pairing leading so we had to cave and make that creep you were 'dating' the VP-"

"You're telling me this _now?"_

"-so go to Kousaka before it's too late, yeah?" Natsuki tugged on her sleeves again. "Don't give up hope and don't worry about me. We've got phones and crap, we'll be in touch."

"Okay. Yeah." Kumiko started to walk back, hoping that Natsuki couldn't see she was crying a little. "Thank you, Vice President."

"Don't mention it, President."

It was not exactly a dramatic run through the rain - they were on a relatively small bus in the middle of the night - but that didn't stop Kumiko from very nearly falling into Reina's arms, in a deep and unfortunately literal sense.

Potholes sucked.

"Kumiko?" Reina looked up as Kumiko precariously balanced herself on the seat, hands stuck out in front of her and pressing into the weird fake leather.

"S-sorry!" Kumiko babbled, trying to retract her arms and quickly realizing that she couldn't unless she wanted to land directly on Reina "I didn't mean to- I mean, I'm just we should've won, we were really good and did you hear Mizore-senpai and Nozomi-senpai's duet? They were amazing, e-even better than we were when we tried that." Then she just let it hang there, waited for Reina to respond.

"They were good," she finally said, voice thick and hoarse. Kumiko nodded.

"Yeah." She gripped the seat tighter, watched the world whiz by in the darkness of the window. "They were."

"We're going to win gold next year." Reina looked right at Kumiko, the back of her neck reflected in the window. "We're going all the way to Nationals and winning gold, no matter what it takes." She moved as if to stand up, only to be held back by her seatbelt. Kumiko had to hold back a laugh.

"You're amazing," Reina," she murmured, and then the bus suddenly skidded to a halt and Kumiko felt herself hurtle towards the floor.

Only the impact never came, because Reina was holding her by the wrist, not harshly but not softly either, firm enough that there'd probably be marks there later. Kumiko stared at the patterns in the carpet.

"You know," Reina said from above, "-I meant it in a more figurative sense, when i said I'd catch you."

"Yeah, I'd figured." Kumiko staggered to her feet as Reina pulled her upright. "You've got a tight grip." Sure enough, there were little red indents on Kumiko's wrist when she examined it. Quietly, she ran a finger over them.

"There's an empty seat here, you know. It might be safer."

"Oh. Yeah." Kumiko slipped into the window seat, awkwardly clambering over Reina as she did so. "I think we'll do it," she added. Reina blinked.

"Hmm?"

"Win Nationals. We'll do it, Reina." There wasn't any immediate response, just the humming of the bus and the sound of a sleeping band, but then Reina nodded slowly.

"Of course we will."

* * *

**a/n:** listen i won't fully be able to form an opinion on the final movement storyline until we see it adapted into a movie/anime but natsuuko forming a band is Excellent and i plan to mention it in every fic i can


End file.
